Here’s what you need to know: We’re pairing a small group of high school students from Allegheny County, Penn., with a group of their peers in Birmingham, Ala., for a 10-month collaborative partnership. 

Applications are due Sept. 12 and can be completed online.

Here’s how it will work: Throughout 2022-23, the cohorts in each city will regularly gather via virtual meetings to participate in discussions with each other and guest speakers both to learn more about air quality and to build skills that will help them become more effective environmental advocates.

By the end of the program year, participants will have created, developed, and executed an air quality-related project of their own choosing, with the support of adult mentors in both Pittsburgh and Birmingham.

You can check out the work of last year’s participants here and here.

The partnership between air quality-focused non-profit organizations in Pittsburgh and Birmingham reflects our cities’ similar industrial and environmental history. A century ago, Birmingham was nicknamed the “Pittsburgh of the South.” 

Both cities have experienced some of the worst air quality in the nation. Discovering and discussing the similarities and differences between experiences in these two regions will be a key component of the collaboration.

We recently hosted an information session where students could learn more about the program. Check it out for more details:

Apply today!

GASP joined fellow environmental advocates Wednesday to again send a message to the Allegheny County Board of Health: The health department’s public outreach in the wake of July power outages at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works lacked transparency and empathy and failed residents concerned about their health.

Here’s what GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell told the board in his comments:

I’m here to highlight ACHD’s failed public response to the July outages at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works and its continued failure to demonstrate meaningful transparency and empathy to Allegheny County residents – especially people living in environmental justice communities. 

The July 4 power outage at the Clairton Coke Works was no minor incident as the emergency procedure required flaring of coke oven gases and resulted in the release of 11.6 tons of sulfur dioxide. The only response from ACHD to date was one Allegheny Alerts sent the morning of July 4 stating “it is believed that the power outage will either not affect or only minimally affect plant emissions.”

Like the fires in 2018 and 2019, this is one more incident where ACHD had an opportunity and obligation to provide up-to-date information to let the public know what was going on and squandered it. 

You’ll see the on-the-ground, real-time images of what it looked like that morning to people living near the Clairton Coke Works. Imagine what it was like to open your doors on that morning to that scene and wonder what on earth was going on and whether you needed to evacuate to protect your family. 

Further details emerged only after GASP filed a right-to-know law request to get a fuller picture of what occurred July 4. The documents revealed there were actually two outages – one on July 2 and a second on July 4. Both were caused by electric issues and it took U.S. Steel 41 hours to get the facility back online following that second outage. 

That’s why GASP is, again, asking ACHD to provide residents with answers to questions like:

 “Why weren’t more updates shared with the public despite the Coke Works being offline for 41 hours?”

“What are the significant electrical issues at the Clairton Coke Works?”

“Were the July 2 and July 4 incidents connected? If so, had U.S. Steel taken action on July 2, could the second outage have been prevented?” 

and:

“What’s being done to prevent power outages like the ones that knocked pollution control equipment offline from happening again?”

Use your oversight authority to demand that ACHD transparently communicate with the public to restore residents’ trust in them.

The meeting’s public comment period also included powerful testimony from Ana Hoffman of Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATELab, who showed the board still images and video of the Clairton Coke Works during the outage – media that showcased flares blazing and huge plumes of dark smoke spewing from the facility.

And she reiterated the importance of transparency, demanding answers from health officials.

In other business:

• The board voted to approve a revision to its air quality regulations that will impose a new set of “Reasonably Available Control Technology” (RACT) requirements on major sources of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Allegheny County. Because this is the third time new RACT rules have been required, they are referred to as “RACT III.” We have an explainer about RACT III on our blog.
• The board also voted to approve final revisions to Allegheny County’s Coke Oven regulations. You can read GASP’s comments and learn more about those here.

The next Allegheny County Board of Health meeting is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 2.

The proposed rule, titled the “Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule,” would strengthen the existing program and includes new safeguards that have not been addressed in prior Risk Management Plan rules, such as enhanced employee participation and transparency for communities on safety decisions.

The Risk Management Plan rule protects public health and the environment by requiring industrial facilities with high accident rates to prevent accidental air releases of dangerous chemicals that could cause deaths, injuries, property, and environmental damage, or require evacuations in surrounding communities. 

This rule is a critical piece of EPA’s work to advance environmental justice as these facilities are often located in communities that have historically borne a disproportionate burden from pollution.

Changes made to the RMP rule in 2019 were identified as an action for review under President Biden’s Executive Order 13990, “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.”

The proposed rule would:

• Provide greater protections for communities living near Risk Management Plan facilities, many of which are underserved and overburdened by pollution. 
• Promote environmental justice through increased availability of information for fenceline communities in their requested language.
• Require safer technologies and alternatives analysis for certain facilities with high accident rates.
• Advance greater employee participation and opportunity for decision-making in facility accident prevention requirements.
• Require third-party audits for facilities with a bad track record of accidents. 
• Enhance facility planning and preparedness efforts.

And YOU have an opportunity to weigh because the EPA will engage stakeholders during a public comment period. 

The public may comment on the proposed rule at www.regulations.gov (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2022-0174) until 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. EPA is also holding three virtual public hearings on the proposed rule on Sept. 26, 27, and 28.

For more information on the proposed rule: RMP Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Proposed Rule.

For more information on the public hearings: Virtual Public Hearings on the RMP Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Proposed Rule.

How Did The RMP Rule Come About?

Section 112(r)(7) of the Clean Air Act Amendments require EPA to publish regulations and guidance for chemical accident prevention at facilities that use certain hazardous substances. 

These regulations and guidance are contained in the RMP rule, which requires facilities using extremely hazardous substances to develop programs to prevent and mitigate accidents that could release those chemicals into the environment.

EPA published its first such regulation in 1996. Then in January 2017, the RMP Amendments Final Rule issued new requirements for prevention, response, and public disclosure of information – but key provisions were paused, and most never went into effect.

Instead, in 2019, the RMP Reconsideration Final Rule rescinded or modified some of the measures in the 2017 rule.

How Many Facilities Are Subject to the RMP Rule?

Currently, EPA regulates about 12,000 RMP facilities throughout the country such as agricultural supply distributors, water and wastewater treatment facilities, chemical manufacturers and distributors, food and beverage manufacturers, chemical warehouses, oil refineries, and other chemical facilities.

Local Facilities Subject to the Risk Management Plan Rule

Because Title V operating permits issued by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) incorporate Risk Management Plan regulations, all of those facilities would be subject to the new rule.

You can check out all those facilities’ Title V permits in our Permits Clearinghouse here.

GASP continues to follow this issue and will keep you posted as the rulemaking process proceeds.

Following the August 8, 2022 Advisory Meeting, the Director, Dr. Debra Bogen, and the Air Quality Program are seeking further advice and counsel from the Air Quality Advisory Council, specifically, as it relates to two items: a) the proposed regulation change regarding the use of Clean Air Funds and b) the possible spending plan related to the Clean Air Fund.

For this reason, the Director is calling a Special Air Quality Advisory Committee meeting on August 29, 2022 at 5PM.  The agenda is attached.

ACHD and specifically the Air Quality Program want to thank each of the committee members for their continued service and advice to help further improve the air quality of Allegheny County.

This special meeting will be in person at the Clack Health Center. A virtual option through Teams is available for those who cannot attend in person.

GASP staff will be in attendance and will keep you posted on what happens. Here’s what you need to know if you’d like to join us:

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 230 308 667 784
Passcode: tH5x9x

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or call in (audio only)

+1 267-368-7515,,565728403#   United States, Philadelphia

Yes, we said outages. Plural. As in there was more than one.

As a reminder, ACHD on July 4 issued the following message through its Allegheny Alerts system:

Today, July 4, at 5:30 a.m., the United States Steel Clairton Coke Works plant experienced a power outage that affected plant operations. Power was recently restored, and the facility is working to return to normal operations. 

The outage has required the flaring of coke oven gasses from the stacks and batteries. The Allegheny Health Department’s Air Quality Program has been monitoring its air quality monitors around the plant since the outage occurred.

Area monitors have not indicated any adverse conditions since the event and it is believed that the power outage will either not affect or only minimally affect plant emissions. The Health Department will remain in contact with the plant throughout the day.

GASP’s records request yielded seven documents and three voicemails related to two outages reported to ACHD by U.S. Steel – one on July 2 and the other on July 4.

Here’s what happened…

Breakdown Report #1: What We Know About a July 2 Outage at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works Facility

U.S. Steel is required by its Title V Operating Permit and ACHD’s air pollution control regulations to notify ACHD immediately of any breakdown of pollution control equipment likely to result in the release of pollutants in violation of their permit or the other emission of toxic pollutants into the air and to follow up with a written report within seven days.

A breakdown report submitted to ACHD by U.S. Steel dated 9 a.m. July 5 reveals that U.S. Steel experienced the first outage from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. July 2 because of “electrical issues.”

The report was brief: It noted the breakdown resulted in elevated sulfur in the coke oven gas and that the company was “working as quickly as possible to repair issue.”

Under the section asking about measures taken during the shutdown, U.S. Steel provided a one-word answer: None.

You can read that breakdown report here.

Breakdown Report #2: What We Know About the July 4 Outage at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works Facility

About 20 minutes after U.S. Steel submitted the breakdown report detailing what happened on July 2, ACHD received a second breakdown report stating that the company “lost all power” to the Clairton Coke Works around 5:30 a.m. July 4.

Again, the report was brief, with U.S. Steel stating that it was “troubleshooting” and had “all hands on deck” to get the facility back online and that it was flaring coke oven gas at all of its batteries.”

U.S. Steel went into further detail in two follow-up breakdown reports submitted on July 11 and July 12, telling ACHD that a power outage had affected operations in Control Rooms #1, #2, and #5.

“The Clairton plan suddenly and unexpectedly lost power to the plant,” the report stated.

In addition to flaring, U.S. Steel noted that it had also extended coking times. The report stated that no pushing or charging occurred during the outage.

According to U.S. Steel, approximately 11.6 tons of sulfur dioxide were released during the 41-hour outage.

If at this point you’re saying to yourself, “Wait, I thought the Allegheny Alert released by the health department the morning of July 4 said that power had been restored to the plant? I’m confused?” then you are not alone.

An internal ACHD email, as well as correspondence between the department and U.S. Steel, show the health department was, too.

In an email to Air Quality Program staff, one ACHD staffer wrote, “Are we pointing fingers that it is 10:08 a.m. on July 5 and I do not have anything saying it was back online? Did someone else receive this information and not tell me?”

Then in a separate July 8 email exchange with U.S. Steel, ACHD asked the company to double-check and correct the date on the July 2 breakdown report. U.S. Steel then confirmed via email that the date was correct and that there had actually been two outages.

All told, the power outage lasted for 41 hours – from 5:30 a.m. on July 4 through 10:30 p.m. on July 5.

U.S. Steel provided three voicemail updates to ACHD as the outage continued.

You can listen to the first voicemail here, the second voicemail here, and the third voicemail here.

Why the Documents Raise More Questions Than They Answer

It’s clear from recent history that “electrical issues” and general maintenance deficiencies continue to plague U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works facility. 

Remember the Christmas Eve 2018 fire at the Clairton Coke Works that knocked key emissions reduction equipment offline for three months? Let’s not forget the cause of that fire, which was exposed in an award-winning, in-depth investigative report from Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier: Eroded equipment and sub-par facility maintenance.

If you don’t, it’s worth a read.

We also want to point out that U.S. Steel is no stranger to electrical issues: Less than six months after that catastrophic fire, Clairton Coke Works’ pollution-control systems were again knocked offline thanks to an electrical fire that caused the closure of the same control rooms damaged on Dec. 24, 2018. 

They are also the same control rooms impacted by the July 4 outage – #1, #2, and #5.

U.S. Steel’s maintenance and electrical issues haven’t just been the stuff of headlines, they have also been the subject of litigation.

For the uninitiated: GASP staff took a deep dive into a federal class-action lawsuit filed in April 2019 against U.S. Steel on behalf of its investors. The complaint, which can be read in its entirety here, includes testimony from current and former U.S. Steel employees who were deposed as—and referred to in court documents—as confidential witnesses. 

Those confidential witnesses, one of whom worked at the Clairton Coke Works for 40 years, described systemic maintenance and operational failures at the plant.

GASP staff then looked at U.S. Steel’s air emissions compliance by analyzing Allegheny County Health Department’s 2018 enforcement order related to the Christmas Eve fire, as well as court transcripts from the hearing related to U.S. Steel’s appeal of that order.

That analysis showed that the company was struggling to comply with air emissions standards during the same period of time when the plaintiffs alleged U.S. Steel asked employees to “jury rig” machines and generally operated with a “don’t buy, get by” mentality.

There is also an ongoing legal case against the company filed by PennEnvironment and Clean Air Council alleging that systemic maintenance failures led to the Christmas Eve 2018 fire at the Clairton Coke Works and that U.S. Steel should be charged with 12,000 violations of clean air laws.

With all that said, here’s the bottom line: While both U.S. Steel and ACHD downplayed the July 4 outage, stating that impacts on ambient air quality were minimal and that there were no exceedances noted, they have failed to address what is being done to get at the root of the problem.

So we are asking publicly to both ACHD and U.S. Steel these questions: 

1. Does the Mon Valley Works have a bigger electrical issue than officials have let on?
2. What steps are being taken to prevent power outages like the ones that knocked pollution-control equipment offline from happening again?
3. Were the July 2 and July 4 incidents connected? If so, had U.S. Steel taken action on July 2, could the second outage have been prevented?
4. ACHD told residents the morning of July 4 that the plant was back up and running and that flaring had ceased when in fact that was not the case – the Coke Works did not come back online the evening of July 5. Why wasn’t an updated message sent to residents?

“This seems like a case of ‘those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.’ ACHD inexplicably waited more than two weeks to tell Mon Valley residents that the Christmas Eve 2018 fire had occurred and that air quality was being impacted. The department rightfully was raked over the proverbial coals by community members and environmental advocates,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. “ACHD had the opportunity July 5 to demonstrate its commitment to transparency and accountability and share updated information with residents to help them make more informed decisions about how to mitigate their risk and again they blew it.”

He continued:

“Instead, the department waited as long as legally possible to release any documents related to the incident. At this point we feel like a broken record but will say it once more a little louder: Residents deserve better from both the health department and U.S. Steel.”

Editor’s Note: Stay tuned, this blog will be updated if and when we receive any further information.

The true value of the Environmental Justice Index (EJI) is its focus on cumulative impacts, which are the total harm to human health that occurs from the combination of environmental burdens like pollution and poor environmental conditions, pre-existing health conditions, and social factors.

This tool – created by the CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Environmental Justice –uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Mine Safety, and Health Administration, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to rank the cumulative impacts of environmental injustice on health for every census tract.

The EJI builds off existing environmental justice indexes to provide a single environmental justice score for local communities across the United States so that public health officials can identify and map areas most at risk for the health impacts of environmental burden.

Let’s pause here for a quick example of how pre-existing health conditions can be worsened by environmental burden: Imagine two people with asthma. One person lives in a community with elevated air pollution, and the other person does not. While both people have asthma, the person living in the community with elevated air pollution may be more likely to be hospitalized based on both factors.

CHD officials called the new tool “critical to advancing health equity” while the ATSDR said the EJI “strengthens the scientific evidence on the cumulative health impacts of the environmental burden on communities across the country.”

The agencies created an online, interactive tool to help public health officials and communities identify and map communities most at risk for facing the health impacts of environmental hazards. Social factors, such as poverty, race, and ethnicity, along with pre-existing health conditions, may increase these impacts.

Bottom line? The EJI can help public health officials, policymakers, and communities identify and respond to the unique environmental and social factors that affect a community’s health and well-being.

Specifically, the EJI databases and maps can be used to:

• identify areas that may require special attention or additional resources to improve health and health equity,
• educate and inform the public about their community,
• analyze the unique, local factors driving cumulative impacts on health to inform policy and decision-making, and
• establish meaningful goals and measure progress towards environmental justice and health equity.

GASP staff utilized the EJI tool to review the rankings for the City of Clairton, a community historically impacted by emissions from one of Allegheny County’s most egregious air polluters – U.S. Steel. 

What we found was startling but not surprising.

On the mapping tool, the City of Clairton includes three census tracts.

When looking at several tracts at once, the summary EJI scores for the several major categories appear in the left-hand column.

For individual census tracts you can get additional detailed information (some shown in the images but click on the “tract” links below for the full rankings).

This tract has an EJI rank of 0.97 overall. This means that 97 percent of census tracts in the nation likely experience less severe cumulative impacts from the environmental burden and that just 3 percent of tracts in the nation likely experience more severe cumulative impacts from the environmental burden.

Its rank for air pollution is 0.89, which means it has an air pollution burden worse than 89 percent of the United States. You can see part of this overall calculation is its ranking for air toxics cancer risk, which is listed as 1.0 – the worst ranking within a category. 

Here’s a look at the second Clairton tract:

The second tract had similarly alarming scores: Its overall EJI ranking is 0.99, which means it experiences severe cumulative impacts from the environmental burden that is likely worse than 99 percent of the United States. Like its neighbor to the East, the air pollution burden rank was 0.89 and its air toxic cancer risk rank was 1.0.

“Let that sink in,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. “What that number tells us is that when it comes to cancer risk from toxic air, Clairton residents are at the highest risk of any other area in the nation.”

And here’s an overview of the third Clairton tract:

The third tract had an overall EJI rank of 0.90, an air pollution rank of 0.88 and an air toxic cancer risk of 0.99.

Clairton also ranked poorly when it came to the prevalence of pre-existing disease, with a ranking of 5 out of 5. In all three Clairton tracts, there was a high prevalence of:

• High blood pressure
• Asthma
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Poor mental health

“While the rankings are startling, they sadly aren’t surprising. Pittsburghers already know all too well how profoundly environmental injustice can negatively impact our health and wellbeing,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. “The EJI confirms the lived experience of so many of our neighbors. We hope the Allegheny County Health Department will utilize this tool to inform its decision-making on what air quality monitoring, outreach, research, and enforcement efforts to prioritize to ensure health equity for all its residents – especially those in the Mon Valley, who have borne the brunt of our local pollution for far too long.”

GASP staff also reviewed the EJI by county. Here’s an overview:

We encourage local residents, policymakers, and advocates to check out the tool here to see how your community ranks. 

Titled, “2021 Air Quality Annual Review: The Process of Progress” the 32-page report begins with a personal message from Director Debra Bogen that notes some of the highlights from the past year including:

• The completion of a study that determined that U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works was “entirely” responsible for years of hydrogen sulfide (H2S exceedances in the Mon Valley).
• The addition of the Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode Rule (you can learn all about *that* here).
• Increased enforcement and compliance efforts regarding asbestos abatement.

“This work does not happen on its own,” Bogen wrote in her intro. “The ACHD relies on community engagement to improve the region’s air quality. We hope that you will join us in our efforts to improve the health of our current and future residents.”

We encourage folks to check out the report, which can be viewed in its entirety here.

In it, you will find details about ACHD’s air quality monitoring system and staff, as well as helpful information related to everything from how to make an air quality complaint and sign up to receive Allegheny Alerts to department funding sources and recent grants.

American Contract Systems does not appear in DEP’s database of air pollution control permits.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently completed a risk assessment for commercial sterilizing facilities (they sterilize medical equipment and devices and more) that use the hazardous air pollutant ethylene oxide.  

The determination was startling: It found emissions of ethylene oxide from these facilities increase the lifetime cancer risk for the people who live near them. 

For the uninitiated: Ethylene oxide is a flammable gas with a somewhat sweet odor and in addition to increased cancer risk, exposure may cause myriad ailments, from headache, nausea, vomiting,  and diarrhea to breathing difficulty, drowsiness, weakness, exhaustion, eye and skin burns, frostbite, and even reproductive effects. 

Now, like with so many other air quality issues, we now need to back up and explain a little bit of the process: The assessment was conducted because EPA is charged under the Clean Air Act with the duty of periodically re-assessing the health risks posed by emissions of hazardous air pollutants.

As a result of this risk assessment, EPA will propose more stringent regulations governing ethylene oxide emissions from commercial sterilizing facilities later this year. 

Two commercial sterilizing facilities in western Pennsylvania are among those EPA found to contribute to an increased lifetime cancer risk to their neighbors: American Contract Systems, Inc., in Zelienople, Butler County, and Cosmed Group LLC/Erie in the City of Erie.  

EPA purportedly is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to review the emission controls already in place at these facilities and to determine whether new or improved emission controls are needed at the facilities.  

A GASP review of the operating permit for Cosmed Group shows it is already required to operate control equipment that removes ethylene oxide with at least 99 percent efficiency. 

“American Contract Systems, however, is apparently not subject to any air pollution control permits at this time – DEP’s eFACTS website shows the company just applied for its first plan approval on July 19, 2022, and that DEP is currently reviewing the company’s application for that plan approval,” GASP senior staff attorney John Baillie explained.

He continued:

“Why American Contract Systems does not appear in DEP’s database of air pollution control permits is a good question. It appears that the facility has been in operation since at least 2018, when the FDA found the facility was not complying with regulations governing the production of medical devices.”

EPA will hold a national public webinar to provide more information to communities at risk from ethylene oxide emissions at 8 p.m. Aug. 10, 2022.

GASP continues to follow this issue and will keep you posted as the regulatory process unfolds.

GASP is seeking Allegheny County students in grades 9, 10, and 11 interested in becoming environmental game-changers. If that sounds like you or someone you know, we invite you to apply today for an innovative new program called Fresh Voices for Clean Air. 

For the second year, GASP is partnering with Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP), a non-profit organization working in the greater-Birmingham area in Alabama to advance healthy air and environmental justice through education, advocacy, and organizing. 

“Like us, they strive to reduce air pollution, educate the public on the health risks associated with poor air quality, and encourage community leaders to serve as role models for clean air and clean energy development,” Patrick Campbell said. “We’re excited for the opportunity to partner with our friends in Birmingham and can’t wait to see what the students come up with this time.”

Interested? Here’s how Fresh Voices for Clean Air works:

GASP will pair a small group of high school students in Allegheny County with a group of their peers in Birmingham, Ala. for a school year-long collaborative partnership. Throughout 2022-23, the cohorts in each city will meet virtually to participate in discussions with both each other and guest speakers. The team will learn more about air quality while building the skills necessary to become effective environmental advocates.

By the end of the program year, the team will have created, developed, and executed an air quality-related project of their own choosing, with the support of adult mentors in both Pittsburgh and Birmingham. And that’s not all: Upon successful completion of the program year, participants will earn a $100 award.

GASP Air Quality Educator Laura Kuster said she was impressed by last year’s participants not only for their great work but their passion for and commitment to environmental advocacy.

“The students loved hearing from a wide variety of guest speakers, and those speakers valued interacting with the students even more,” GASP educator Laura Kuster said. “It’s inspiring to engage in conversations about air quality and the environment with our Fresh Voices participants, and I often think back to their perspectives and insights while doing my work.”

GASP Birmingham Executive Director Michael Hansen said he looks forward to seeing what this year’s program brings.

“We are so excited to work with students in the Birmingham and Pittsburgh areas through Fresh Voices. This program creates an opportunity for young people impacted by air pollution to collaborate and find common ground. Together, we’re going to learn about air pollution and environmental health, share our stories, and craft solutions to the problems facing our communities.”

The program will run through the 2022-23 academic year and is open to students in grades 9, 10, and 11 who attend school in either Allegheny County or Jefferson County, Ala. Students must be willing and able to participate in Fresh Voices for Clean Air until the end of the school year in May 2023 to be considered. Participants will need access to a laptop or desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone to take part in virtual meetings, as well as written consent from a parent or guardian.

The deadline to apply is Monday, Sept. 12. You can apply here. 

Have questions or need more information before committing to the program? Learn more and introduce yourself to program advisors starting at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept.  1.  You can register here.

The Fresh Voices for Clean Air initiative was made possible by funding through the Grable Foundation.